Northern Illinois Huskies 2009 Football Betting Preview

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Northern Illinois 2008 Record: (6-7, 5-3)
Northern Illinois 2008 Bowl: Independence Bowl vs. Louisiana Tech (L 10-17)
Northern Illinois Coach: Jerry Kill (6-7 at Northern Illinois, 110-64 overall)
Northern Illinois Offensive Coordinator: Matt Limegrover
Northern Illinois Defensive Coordinator: Tracy Claeys
Northern Illinois Returning Stats Leaders:

• Rushing: Chandler Harnish, QB, 539 yards
• Passing: Chandler Harnish, QB, 1,528 yards
• Receiving: Nathan Palmer, WR, 278 yards
• Tackles: David Bryant, S, 83
• Sacks: Brandon Bice, DE, 6.5
• Interceptions: Patrick George, CB, 1; Cory Hanson, LB, 1; Pat Schiller, LB, 1

Notable Northern Illinois Returning Players: C Eddie Adamski, RB Me’co Brown, DE Jake Coffman, TE Reed Cunningham, LB Alex Kube, G Jason Onyebuagu, K Mike Salerno, G Kevin Skatrud, S Mike Sobol, RB Chad Spann

Northern Illinois Key Losses: LB Josh Allen, OT Jon Brost, CB Chase Carter, DE Larry English, G Dan Keller, DT Alex Krutsch, LB Tim McCarthy, WR Marcus Perez, CB Bradley Pruitt, CB Melvin Rice, DT Craig Rusch, WR Matt Simon, S Tracy Wilson

The first year of the Jerry Kill era at NIU produced a strong 4 win improvement to a 6-6 regular season record and the Huskies earned a berth in the Independence Bowl. While NIU fell short against Louisiana Tech, it was still a strong year and the team actually fell just short of a spectacular turnaround as they lost four games by four points or less! While NIU only returns about half of its starters, this team still seems primed for a strong year.

Offensively, they return a good young quarterback in Chandler Harnish, who ran for over 500 yards and passed for over 1,500 in 2008. Only a sophomore, he should show strong improvement this year and should continue to be a double threat. Harnish will need to find new receivers this fall as his top two targets from last year have moved on. Senior tight end Reed Cunningham is the team’s top returning receiver with 22 catches and 3 touchdowns from a year ago so the cupboard is relatively bare in Dekalb. Luckily, the tailbacks should be solid as sophomore Me’co Brown (528 yards, 2 TDs) and junior Chad Spann (438 yards, 8 TDs) return and should hopefully prevent Harnish from having to lead the team in rushing again. The offensive line returns 3 starters and I think that they’ll continue to improve in the 2 nd year in Coach Kill’s system and should beat their 24.2 points per game output from last season.

Defensively, there are going to be a lot of new starters as only four of last year’s regulars return. However, three of 2008’s top four tacklers are back and they will be heavily relied upon this year. The defensive line is led by defensive tackle Mike Krause, who is a big space occupier. Aside from Krause, there were some serious losses, including NFL 1 st round pick Larry English, and the D-Line is going to take a big step back from last year’s very solid 137 rush yards per game. At linebacker, junior Alex Kube is the only returning starter but he has a ton of range as a converted safety and will be relied upon to lead an inexperienced group. The secondary looks a little bit brighter as both starting safeties return, NIU’s top tacklers from 2008. Senior David Bryant and junior Mike Sobol will be the quarterbacks on defense and should lead a solid secondary, though matching last year’s 161 pass yards per game will be a stiff test. This defense had a huge year last year, allowing only 18 points per game (best in the conference) and averaged less than 300 yards total! With all of the turnover on defense, I can’t imagine this year’s edition remotely approaching their lofty numbers of a year ago.

The Huskies have a very tough schedule, earning games against East favorites Akron and Ohio along with a road game at Miami. While that gives them three home division games, they finish the year with road games at Ohio and CMU and that isn’t an easy closing stretch. In the non-conference slate, they play two away games at Wisconsin and Purdue but have two winnable home games against lesser opponents. Overall, the Huskies aren’t going to be as good defensively as they were in 2008 but they should be stronger on offense. Furthermore, they have a reasonable schedule which will give them a chance at postseason play. I expect the Huskies to be a good middle of the pack team in the MAC and I think that they have a decent chance at finishing bowl eligible if they can repeat last year’s .500 conference record.

Northern Illinois Big Games: Oct. 3rd vs. WMU, Oct. 31st vs. Akron, Nov. 12th vs. Ball State, Nov. 21st vs. Ohio, Nov. 27th vs. CMU

Northern Illinois’s Strength:

Coach Kill likes to keep the ball on the ground and the team ranked third in the conference last year in rushing offense. Quarterback Chandler Harnish will get his fair share of yards on the ground, but so will backs Me’co Brown and Chad Spann. The offensive line returns three starters and has a few experienced backups ready to step into a starting role, so the ground game should be just fine. In fact, they should be better than fine. On the other side of the ball it is the back seven that suddenly has to carry the unit. Safeties David Bryant and Mike Sobol are two of the best in the conference and junior linebacker Alex Kube is ready for a breakout year. He will need some help from players like Cory Hanson, but there are also experienced options out there to fill in at linebacker including seniors Phil Brown and John Tranchitella.

Northern Illinois’s Weakness:

Yet, not the entire secondary is strong. The Huskies went through quite a few corners last year and now it seems like they are all gone. The safeties will help keep this one of the best pass defenses in the conference, but they will not be one of the best in the nation this year if Patrick George and a host of other inexperienced corners are not ready to play from day one. The pass defense will take a big hit while the team tries to find a way to get to the quarterback as well. Defensive end Larry English is off in the NFL and tackles Alex Krutsch and Craig Rusch are also gone. That leaves Brandon Bice, who tallied 6.5 sacks last season, as the lone returning starter. And Bice will not get that much pressure on the quarterback without a player like English on the other side of the line.

Our Prediction for the 2009 Huskies:

But in the end it might all come down to how well Harnisch throws the ball. He only completed 55.9 percent of his attempts in 2008 and he threw nine interceptions and just eight touchdowns, but that was all as a freshman. Can Harinsch be a leader and make plays with his arm and not just his legs? With most of his favorite targets gone, Harnisch and NIU might have one of the worst passing offenses in the league once again unless players like freshman Ron Walker can emerge as consistent receivers.

Northern Illinois Betting Odds

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